Angel of Darkness
by The Rahkshi Writer
Summary: Lumen, Toa of Shadow, was once the loyal assistant and ally of Makuta Krika. Now, attempting to bring him back, he ends up going back to the Dark Hunter Wars. But can one of the shadows be their savoir? The discontinue ending has been posted.
1. Prologue

**Right, this is... a 'pilot' if you like, for my next story idea. It's a prologue, obviously, and if interest is displayed, I'll turn it into a full story. The Rahkshi Toa is still running, but that will be over by this time in two weeks, so I want to get started on my next thing. Updates will probably be a lot more sporadic on this one, unfortunately. I'd like to say that it will be a maximum of two weeks between posts, but I can make no promises, given what's going on in my life over the next two or three months. But we'll see, huh? Anyway, read, enjoy and review. Wow, I really have to stop begging for reviews...******

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bionicle, but I do own all OCs.**

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**Prologue**

The night should have been alive with sound. Of insects in the fields, of creatures in the woods, of the wind rustling the leaves, of the waves beating against the shore. But there was none. As if the wind and the waves, and the Rahi, knew that something was going to happen here tonight. But all were gone, faded away. No wary and watchful eyes looked out from the woods. Which meant there were no witnesses as the shadows shifted in among the trees. And something emerged from the darkness. The creature was bizarre, flashes of skeletal white spines covered its armoured body. It held a pair of spiked blades, the same colour as the other spikes, but after checking its surroundings, it sheathed the blades and beckoned for another to step from the shadows. The creature was a strange Matoran, a pair of wings sprouting from his back, and from behind a dark coloured Kanohi Crast, a pair of red eyes gleamed. In his hands he held a sword, its centre glowing with an unearthly light. "What are we doing here, Krika?" he demanded. "We should be preparing for the invasion of Karda Nui, not skulking around some Mata-Nui forsaken island!" Krika held up a hand to hush him, and then, after checking the forest once again through shifty eyes, he spoke to his Matoran assistant.

"Lumen... you will not be accompanying me to Karda Nui." Krika told him, sighing.

"What! Why?" Lumen demanded.

"I cannot tell you. If I do... it will be better, far better, for you not to come." Krika replied. He knew his time was almost upon him.

"But you can't leave me here!" Lumen yelled. "I want to help!"

"That, young one, is the Shadow talking. I... I know you'll make me proud some day. There are things, plans, far bigger than a lowly Makuta and his assistant. And I can guarantee they will end badly. So I'm offering you a chance, Lumen. A chance to escape. Run, and never look back. Get away from Destral, get away from the Makuta, and save yourself. Dark times are coming, Lumen, and... Perhaps you can help me atone for my crimes."

"You-you're a traitor to the brotherhood!" Lumen cried, aghast.

"I am a supporter of the Brotherhood of old. Of Miserix. But perhaps, after the things I have done, I can claim friends on either side of this conflict. So I am saving you, the closest I have come to a friend. Hide yourself. Protect yourself. Survive." With this, he stepped back into the shadows, but Lumen ran after him.

"No, you're not leaving me here!" he screamed. Krika turned to him, and this time, Lumen truly saw Krika. He was a dead man walking. He knew his time was almost up.

"I am. Perhaps one day you'll understand. Perhaps one day you will clear the name of Shadow of the filth placed upon it by Terridax and his master plan. Perhaps you will save yourself. But for now, I am truly sorry... for everything." With this, he blasted the Matoran with shadow, and knocked him out cold. And erased all memory of Destral's location, and name, from his memory, so he could never find it again.

"I am so, so sorry..." Krika murmured, as he melted into the shadows once more. And all that could be heard was the sound of Lumen's icy breath, rising like little clouds into the silent sky.


	2. Shadow on the wall

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******Okay, um... some explaining needs to be done. And it shall be done. It's not a cancelation this time thought, I assure you. Instead, it's more of a change of direction. I was originally going to do a Karda Nui story, but needing inspiration, I found a lot of war-related material shoved my way by life, and therefore have switched my attention to the Dark Hunter Wars. I always wanted to write for Lhikan. So the Krika idea will still be in there, but in a slightly different way to previously planned.**

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Disclaimer: I do not own Bionicle, but all OCs are mine. (and the idea of a good shadow Toa... geez, some people have no flexebility over good and evil... they're worse than pre-shadow leech-Takanuva. Ohh, that's so Bionicle nerd...)

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**Chapter 1: Shadow on the wall**

_100 years later, at an undisclosed location in the Northern Frost:_

Deep in the frozen wilderness, in some remote valley, where few dared to tread, the stainless silver door stood out like a Toa of light in the shadows. Two guards stood by the entrance, a pair of Steltian Labourers who probably didn't have enough grey matter between them to register on an IQ test. The black-armoured Toa smiled as he curled his fingers round the trigger. He could either go in all guns blazing, or he could drown them in shadow to get past them. The second option was a superior plan to be sure. He seriously doubted that the guards deeper into the facility would be so easy to defeat. But then, 'guns blazing' was much more fun. Besides, he had to get in there somehow. That was the thing about these places. No shadows to hide in. Even so, he had no intention of revealing himself. After all, it was far easier to get them to open the door than to knock it down. If you knew how. So he took aim, and fired. The Cordak rockets fired in quick succession, blowing a huge crater in the floor. The Steltian Guards were lying on the ground. Lumen didn't bother to check if they were alive or not. Instead he remained, his teeth clenched against the shockwaves. And waiting. He waited for the guards to come running. The explosion from the now discarded Cordak Blaster must have been felt throughout the whole facility. They'd want to see what was going on. And that would be their first mistake.

The blast-doors into the facility soon slid open, and several guards poured out. Lumen, from his position among the frozen trees, counted at least five. Hopefully, they wouldn't notice a pair of phantom footsteps. Discarding his Cordak Blaster, he donned a Huna and focused, disappearing from view. He had, beforehand, considered using a Volitak. To most people, the decision would seem pointless. But the many masks of deception differed in their best time of use. The Volitak made the user more... transparent. The eyes, even if they saw you, would just slide over you. You would blend into the background, and be silent. Perfect for dark, shadowy hideouts where the key was to be silent. The Mahiki was a mask for hiding in plain sight. The eye, when it saw everything ordinary, would simply slide past you without a second thought. Useless in a facility where anything odd would be instantly detected and stopped with brutal efficiency. The Huna made the user completely invisible, although they still cast a shadow. The notion caused Lumen to chuckle quietly. That shadow would prove not to be a problem. So he sprinted around the edge of the clearing towards the door. He did not run through the trees. Why should he? He was invisible, and knocking branches aside and dislodging snow would almost certainly get him noticed. His tactics proved successful, slipping into the facility while the guards were distracted by the bodies of a pair of Steltian labourers. He had been right to use a Huna. The facility was brightly lit, banishing shadows and hiding places. And banishing his shadow. How on earth he could cast a shadow while invisible was beyond him. But he could not waste time on such thoughts. Although his disguise was effective, he knew he would be discovered sooner or later. There were ways around a Huna. That and he wasn't any lighter, as he discovered when he stepped out of the entrance corridor, hit the pressure sensors, and heard the alarms go off. "Oh well." He sighed. "No need to worry about being quiet, I suppose." So he ran, his footsteps masked by the whining alarms. Yet more Toa Guards skidded into the 'empty' corridor, and paused, weapons limp by their sides. Lumen tutted. "Bad boys. Never drop your guard." Then he took them down, bolts of shadow striking them down before they could react. As he passed them, he stole one of the guard's guns. "I always wanted one of these..." he said, as he sprinted away. He could hear the guards shouting into communicators... wait. No he couldn't.

Lumen slowed to a stop in the corridor, confused. He was sure he'd left some of them alive, so how come there was no drama, no panicked feedback? Why the silence? Suddenly that silence was oppressive, for it was the mark of something important, Lumen knew. He'd done this too many times before, and there had always been noise. Now there was just silence. He forced himself onwards, along a long corridor with no turn-offs either side. Perfect place for an ambush...

_Cease and desist, you have made an unauthorized entry into this secure facility. State your name, intention and authorization._

"What?" Lumen cried, starting. He looked up and down the corridor. He knew he'd heard that voice, as if the speaker was standing right next to him, but there was no-one there...

_I repeat, cease and desist. You have made an unauthorized entry into this secure facility. State your name, intention and authorization, or be terminated. _As the voice faded once again, more voices roses, and from a pair of hidden doors, several Toa with rather nasty-looking weapons piled into the corridor. Elite guards. Lumen weighed up the situation, and decided the best thing to do was follow the voice's requests until he worked out what was going on.

"Name: Lumen. Intention: To steal the mask you've got stashed away in here. Authorization? I felt like it." Then he started blasting with the gun, but not at the guards. Instead, he shot out the lights along the corridor. It wasn't much, but it was enough. As the guards opened fire, he vanished, appearing instead behind the guards, and threw himself into one of the secret passages. This in turn led into another corridor. He could hear the guards coming after him, and he realised that a bullet had shattered his Huna. He quickly replaced the broken mask with his Crast, and rushed frantically down the corridor. The disembodied voice was still demanding he surrender, but now he could hear other things too. Other voices. Talking about him, he realised. Then it hit him. "Oh, I get it. You're a psionics Toa! And the other Toa keep in contact telepathically... that's brilliant! Now let's see if I can't use that psychic link to my own advantage." He had passed several keypads, the buttons coloured a striking red, during his traversal of the corridors, and now he had an idea. "So..." he drawled, addressing the voice. "What's the code to kill the lights? There's a code for everything in these places, so what is it?"

_You think I will tell you? Submit, and perhaps your death will be quick and painless._

"Oh, I didn't need you to tell me." Lumen replied. As soon as I asked the question, you thought about it, and, through that ol' psychic link, so did I. Thanks!" he cried, punching the code into the keypad. At once, the lights shut off, as one, and Lumen's mouth split into a smug grin. "Perfect." He said. In the dark, this would be easy. That was a major security floor, being able to access security codes by a simple question. One that they might rectify after he was gone. Or not. These things tended to get buried by superiors ashamed to admit they had fallen for such a pathetically simple trick. But Lumen's arrogance was about to cost him. It wasn't over yet.

He strolled through the corridors. He'd done it, beat the security and now he owned the shadows. He couldn't be stopped in the dark, because only he could see. Unless there were Toa wearing Rurus. Like the pair of Toa sneaking up the corridor behind him. In fact, Lumen's first clue was when their gunfire lit up the tunnel. Lumen cursed. Light Toa? Of all the rotten luck... laser beams scorched the floor, walls and ceiling around him, and he had several close escapes. He tried binding the guards with shadows, but that proved ineffective. So instead he rounded on them and vanished. Then he emerged from the shadows behind them, and fired twin knives of shadow at them. They deflected with a solid wall of light, which blinded him briefly. Then he returned fire once more, except from behind them. The shadows were his to control after all, and they quickly swallowed the floundering Toa. He heard one yell "Solek!" as he was sucked in. He snorted. It wouldn't kill them. Not unless he commanded it too, that is. So he continued down the corridor, until at last a glowing ring appeared before him. At last, he had found it!

He had one last surprise awaiting him as he reached it however. A Toa of fire attacked him, screaming, from the darkness. He threw a fireball hot enough to melt even his protosteel armour, but Lumen simply activated his Crast and threw it back at him. The Toa leapt out of the way, and the blast flew up the corridor and destroyed the door. The Toa gaped, horrified, at what he had done, before a shadow knife buried itself in his chest armour and he sunk to the ground. He wouldn't be getting up again anytime soon. Satisfied with his work, Lumen stepped into the light past the door.

The room must operate on a different circuit; Lumen supposed, for the large, spherical room was still brightly lit, the white walls increasing the glare. Including the pedestal in the centre of the room, which was led up to by a thin walkway. Upon which rested the aim of his search. The Kanohi Vahi. But to get to it, he would have to get through the electrified force-field, crackling with power in case anyone was daft enough not to know what would happen. Oh, and the chasm surrounding the pedestal. And the spikes that filled it. Having no intention to become a well-done Toa kebab, Lumen was not going to attempt to actually try and get past those defences to reach the Vahi. He didn't need too, anyway. Because there were no other Shadow Toa. And therefore no-one was prepared for him. And no matter how hard you tried, you could not remove all shadow. Same as, no matter how dark things seemed, there would always be light. Both were inextinguishable. But the point being, in this room, the primary remaining shadow was underneath the Vahi. Where it blocked the light. And that was all he needed. Summoning a small amount of shadow energy, struggling to maintain it in the bright light, he concentrated on the Vahi, and, quite suddenly, it fell into its pedestal. As if it has passed through it. But it never hit the bottom. Instead, it dropped out of the shadow floating above Lumen's hands, cupped in anticipation of the falling mask. He caught it, and lifted it up to the light. It was a marvel of carving, despite its great age. It _looked_ like a mask that could contain power over time. It _felt _like a mask that could contain power over time. He knew a piece of art when he saw it. His one weakness under the facade. No one could be an all-guns blazing action hero all the time. Anyone who believed different had never tried to be. Because whenever you thought you'd achieved what you were trying to do, someone always had to come along and ruin it, usually with as much style and class as you had, if not more. In fact, he could hear clapping behind him now...

"So this is how far you've fallen, Lumen? Theft?" asked the voice he had heard before. Except now it really was right behind him. He whirled round, to face the psionics Toa who was leaning casually on the doorframe. An attitude so reminiscent of his own, irritatingly so.

"Fallen? Not at all. I'm trying to reform, clean the name of shadow. And it starts with this." He held up the Kanohi Vahi, and the Toa gasped.

"You-you've got that?" her voice dropped to a fearful whisper. "Put it back. Please. I'm asking you, for whatever we once had, put it back. Or you'll doom us all."

"But I have no intention of putting it back. I need it. It's the only way for me to..." he stopped. He'd given too much away.

"You can't take that mask. You already tricked me once. I won't let you do it again."

"Oh, so that was you, was it? Left your team, did you? Tarsi, Tarsi, Tarsi, you really are an overambitious little-hey!" Tarsi had telekinetically lifted the Vahi from his hands, and grabbed it.

"You will not get this mask." She snarled.

"Ooh, sore spot, that was!" Lumen replied, then flung himself at her. She leapt aside, and knocked him off the walkway. Her face was triumphant as he fell, but it turned into a scowl as he lifted himself up on the wings he'd gained from Mutran. If he had still been alive, Lumen would have thanked him... with a bullet. He launched a trio of shadow knives at her, and she deflected them with her psionics powers. They imploded, but the blast knocked her off the walkway, the mask slipping from her fingers... Lumen made a grab for it, but found it jinxing out of his fingers. Below him, Tarsi righted herself by telekinesis, then shot back up to knock him skywards. Lumen wasn't beaten that easily though, and disappeared before she reached him. He appeared behind her, and grabbed her. They grappled in midair, before she eventually threw him at the force-field, which was still electrified. Bother.

Lumen shot towards the barrier, and realised he held the Vahi in his hands. It was his only chance... but so dangerous. But Lumen hadn't stayed alive this long by not taking risks. Besides, it was either guaranteed death, or probable. So he'd just do it. He slipped the Vahi over his face, and focused. He was getting closer, that 'time slows down before you die' thing was coming on... wait, no it wasn't. Time was slowing down! It was working! He was moving slower, much slower... but still moving. But now he could scan the field, looking for a generator. And there it was... the pedestal of the Vahi. Brilliant. So the only way to turn it off was to get past it... almost foolproof. He would have to be fast... or maybe he could just use the Vahi. Either way, he called on his power over shadow, and vanished once again. And this time, he appeared, balancing precariously on the pedestal. And, wasting no time, he leapt up and destroyed the pedestal, racing up towards a force-field that was suddenly no longer there. And now he returned his attention to Tarsi. She was shocked, hands clamped to her Kanohi, and the implications for her were very bad. Lumen had just deactivated the shield. And he had the Vahi. And to make things worse, he had apparently just demonstrated adept usage of the Vahi. Now he was standing before her once again, out of breath from their duel but still cocky.

"Well, I guess I win." He said. "Maybe I'll bring it back, when I'm done with it." He told her, before walking past her.

"You won't get out alive." Tarsi replied.

"Oh, come on. Stop bluffing. I've been with you the whole time, you can't have called them!" Lumen chuckled, turning to look at her. Her expression was one worn by those confident of victory.

"I didn't need to. I'm a Toa of psionics." Tarsi retorted. "They're on their way now. You won't get out alive, Lumen."

"Hah, just you watch." Lumen replied, although admittedly he couldn't see a way out of it.

"Oh Lumen. Even _you _can't get out of this one." Tarsi replied teasingly. For a moment, their positions under the facade, of the criminal and the law enforcer, positions fated to fight until time itself is no more, was gone, and they were rookie Toa once more. Before he did those terrible things. And she left her team, her ambition driving her to heights beyond theirs. But leaving behind her family on the way. In their own ways, they had both done terrible things since then. They'd both hurt a lot of people. More so in Tarsi's case than Lumen knew. But then those things came back, as they heard her underlings coming for him. He had to move fast, maybe if he killed her they'd pause. Yes, he had to take her hostage, threaten to kill her. He charged and grabbed her, holding her by the throat as they burst in.

"Nobody move!" he yelled, a shadow knife forming in his hands. "Drop your weapons, or I'll kill her." He knew she would probably be transmitting messages to them, giving them orders, but he had no idea what they would be. He found out when the guards trained their sites on him, fingers tensed on trigger fingers, elemental shots charging in the barrels. Apparently she valued the Vahi more than her own life. Perhaps that was less a statement about the Vahi, and more a statement about her life. But in any case... "I'll kill her!" he yelled, pressing the shadow knife closer to her. The guard were pulling back on their triggers. "Aren't you listening?" he cried. "I, will, _kill her_."

"They won't listen. We have our orders. If the Vahi is at risk, then there must be no compromise. They will kill us both to protect it." Tarsi gasped, the sound struggling to escape her. Lumen was amazed.

"You people are more heartless than me. And I'm the shadow Toa." He said. "But if you insist..."

"He has the Vahi! Shoot, shoot!" Tarsi cried, obeying her military discipline. It sickened him.

"Not today." He said, activating the Vahi, slowing down time around the soldiers. He grabbed Tarsi and ran, into the darkened corridors beyond. Elemental blasts and bullets flew past him as he ran, flashing up the corridor. _Bullets_; Lumen thought. _They must be really serious about this mask._ Then he skipped into a side corridor and vanished...

He emerged from the shadows near the entrance. It had been closed, but that was no obstacle to a Shadow Toa. He had expected more resistance from his 'hostage', but Tarsi was remaining silent, no telepathic threats, no attacks on his mind. He raised the gun he'd stolen from the guard, and fired off an explosion of shadow that destroyed the door. At last, he'd got to blast down a door. Then he ran, sprinting out into the forest, sheathing the gun and snatching up his Cordak Blaster. One rocket left. Perfect. The guards were coming for him now, swarming out of the exit again... a quick blast, mix in some shadow, it would take them all out. All he had to do was wait. Kill 'em all. But instead, he jumped the gun, causing the doorway to collapse, sealing them in for a little while. He knew that certainly wouldn't hold them. He was just jumpy. So he fled into the woods with Tarsi. He'd got what he needed. And rather more.

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**I _hate_ the text editor on FF! It's so stupid... but anyway, never mind. Hope everyone likes the chapter, and sorry about the bumpy takeoff. R and R _or else_. Just kidding, but I really would appreciate it.**


	3. Shadow of things to come

**Oh dear, oh dear, this so late. Sorry everyone, this chapter was really tough to write (I hate writing 'introductory' chapters...) and I've had a lot of things going on, so apologies for the lateness and the bad writing. Read on, read on.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bionicle, but all OCs are mine, except for Varia, who belongs to Rusty Red Raptor. Thanks for letting me use Varia, and hope this representation's okay with you.**

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Chapter 2: Shadow of things to come

A short while later, Lumen was crashing through the forest, Tarsi hot on his heels. And Lumen voiced something that had been bothering him for a while. "You can go now." He said to Tarsi. "I only needed a distraction."

"No way, I'm not going anywhere." Tarsi replied, running to catch up with him. "Not until you give me the Vahi."

"Then you'll be following me to the end of time." Lumen replied. Tarsi gasped, and Lumen stopped. "Oh come on, I'm not really going to go to the end of time. I could... But I'm not going too."

"So where are you going?" Tarsi asked. Despite the situation, she felt a giddy thrill at the idea of travelling through time. Lumen didn't reply initially, but then...

"I'm going back to... before." He said.

"Before what?"

"Before the reign of shadows. Back to when battle raged across Karda Nui's sky." Lumen said.

"You... you're going back to rescue the Makuta?" Tarsi asked incredulously. Lumen rounded on her.

"Look at me, Tarsi! I'm a Toa of Shadow. I am a servant of the Makuta, by default. But..." he paused, and looked pensive. "But I am only going to save one."

"Whom?" Tarsi asked, before she could stop herself.

"Krika, Makuta of the Northern Continent, and Zakaz. The only Makuta who showed me kindness. The only one who deserves to live."

"Krika? Why him?" Tarsi asked. But Lumen didn't answer, and so instead they walked on in silence.

Now they were standing atop the colossal robot that had once been their home. It had come up above the horizon like a mountain. A mountain that shone, despite the rust. It looked disturbingly peaceful, despite what had happened. As if, the shadow of Makuta gone, it had been at peace. She wondered what it was like within the robot now. Apparently the whole thing had become uninhabitable within three days of its death. She remembered her old team had talked of exploring the interior, in its now ruined state, where nature had been allowed to run wild. Now she would get first look. Lumen, ahead of her, had found the entrance. "Okay, this is where you stop." He said, turning to face her. "I can't allow you to interfere."

"What! You're not getting away from me!" Tarsi cried. But Lumen was already wearing the Vahi, and smiled a lupine smile.

"Oh, just watch me." He said, triggering the Vahi to slow down time around her, before vanishing.

"Oh I will." Tarsi hissed. "I will watch your face when you realise I beat you."

Lumen re-emerged from the shadows and looked out over the glorious city of Metru Nui. It wasn't quite so fantastic now thought, abandoned and dark. The sight gave him a thrill only a Shadow Toa could understand. So no-one ever would... He flapped his wings and soared through the eternal night to the centre of the city, where the coliseum towered over the rest of the city. It was an amazing feat of engineering, the damage done to it could not detract from that. But now the city was once again. Despite the fact that his mission had nothing to do with the city, he felt a thrill as he imagined going back to Metru Nui's heyday. But that was unimportant. He had other things to do. He coasted over the silver sea, still shining from the slits of light that leaked down into the city, and the dying flames that followed the disaster, and touched down in Ta-Metru. The light from the furnaces cast a flickering red light over the ground. The flames made it look like there were things moving in the darkness. Lumen cured and fired off a blast of shadow from the stolen weapon he'd taken. It had a long barrel and sights, better for sniping than all-out blasting. Still, he had a Cordak blaster for that. Hence the name. It was a much more precise, and therefore far more dangerous, weapon. Even if explosives were fun, a Toa of Shadow was most dangerous when he was subtle, playing to his elemental affinities. This was a Shadow Toa's gun. It had turned a pleasing ebony colour when he'd taken it; presumably it worked on a similar system to the Kanoka Blade. He wondered what Kanoka had been used in its construction... Something ran over his foot, and he yelped at the searing feet. He spun round and watched a Lava-rat dashing down the street. Followed by several more. Lumen pondered what could have caused the Lava-rats to flee, and turned back to the building behind him. He had seen this when he had visited Metru Nui before. It had been boarded up then, and still was. It had been abandoned since the Dark Hunter war. So no one would be prying around in here... Because Lumen had worked it out. It was possible to travel in time using the Vahi, but in the meantime, he'd still be there, moving in incredibly slow motion. So he needed a place to hide. Shattering the boards with his sword, he walked into the building. Yes, he realised it was totally cliché to have a sword and a gun, but what the Karzahni, he didn't really care too much about image anyway. So he proceeded deeper into the building, wondering why on earth it had been boarded up. Pipes creaked in the ancient factory, and Lumen thought he heard the sound of rustling chains, but dismissed it. This place was deserted. He found himself a hidden corner. Now, it was time to test his theory. He focused all his power on the Vahi, and felt time begin to slow. He pushed it further and further, struggling for control, feeling it slipping from him... no, he would do it, he had to! He pushed harder against the Vahi, forcing it to submit to his will, pushing it further and further, slowing time further and further... now he needed a final push, before he became trapped in time forever... enough force to push it over the stop point, and then... backwards. He screamed with exertion as he gave it his all, and blacked out.

When he came back too, he knew something was wrong. He was still standing in the building, the abandoned factory, and yet he felt like he was falling. The streaks of energy flashing into view did nothing to help this, as they certainly made it look like he was falling. _Well if this is falling, then it's one deep hole;_ he thought, smirking. But that wasn't what was wrong. Nor were the pounding headache and the burning on his face, both phenomenons he could probably blame on the Vahi. Nope, those weren't it. In fact, Lumen would have put widgets on the possibility that it was the Doom Viper that he'd brought with him. Yes, that must be it. The creature was repulsive for sure, six heads hissing and snarling, and Lumen became acutely aware of another problem. The Doom Viper's breath was incredibly poisonous. And he was trapped with it. It lashed out even as he slashed at it with his sword, and a head brushed his mask… of course, his Kanohi Crast! He activated it, and at the same time he felt the time travel slowing… his attention was divided between the masks, so the Doom Viper was only pushed back a short way. Lumen quickly returned his attention to the Vahi, reasserting his will onto the mask. The Doom Viper was returning for another strike, and these two events combined into a rather sickening, and yet fascinating, sight. The creature, pushed back by the Crast and throwing itself back towards him, was caught on the boundary of the time-alteration, and found itself travelling back in time. Lumen watched, unable to tear his gaze away, as the creature began to shrink, becoming smaller and weaker, shrivelling, while its heads thrashed and shrieked as its neck was drawn in, leaving just its head snapping at him, and eventually the creature dissolved, returning to the viruses that it had sprung from. Only its head remained, jaws parted. Lumen watched the thing with disgust, then realised he had to get out. The toxins in the creature's breath would still linger. He had to get out! He rushed for the exit, mysteriously cleared of boards, finally ceasing to use the Vahi as he did so. He launched himself out into the evening twilight, crashing headlong into a Toa, knocking them off their feet.

Lumen found himself looking into alarmed green eyes behind a trippy-looking gold Hau, which quickly became slits. Lumen rolled off the strange Toa and leapt to his feet, sword raised. The Toa matched his speed, rising smoothly to his feet, two huge swords clutched in his hands. They were glowing red in the half-light; the Toa examined Lumen for a few moments, and then relaxed slightly. "Mata Nui, I thought you were a Dark Hunter! That would have been unfortunate. I'm Toa Lhikan, Toa Mangai."

"I... I'm Toa Lumen." Lumen replied; feeling rather disappointed that he wasn't going to fight. Then he did a double take. "Hang on... Toa Lhikan?"

Lhikan had told him to accompany him to the coliseum. Meanwhile, Lumen let the city's aura soak in. It was a thick atmosphere of oppression, violence and death. Shadows contained an extra fear this night, as the unknown was replaced by something very real and very dangerous. In fact... "Get down!" hissed Lhikan, and Lumen obediently slipped into a side alley, cloaking the pair in the shadows, shortly before something fell out of the sky, slowing to a stop just above the pavement. The creature wore silver and ebony armour, which reflected the moonlight and provided a strange camouflage in the night, but at the same time sparkling brightly like a star. The effect was rather dazzling. The being stopped using its gravity powers and dropped to the floor, then called out

"Hey, Lhikan? Stop hiding and come out!" when Lhikan failed to materialise, she grew more impatient. "He's so jittery! He's probably run halfway across Metru Nui by now, thinking the sky's falling down."

"That's nice." Lumen growled, doing his best impression of what he assumed an evil Lhikan would sound like. The Toa froze mid insult, looking terrified. Then her expression changed to rage, and she yelled

"Yistran!" and seemed to change into a Kanohi Dragon. Lumen blinked, briefly confused, before springing into action, shadows flying to his aid to bind the creature. The Kanohi Dragon roared and thrashed, but the chains held. After all, they weren't real, and therefore couldn't be destroyed. But the Kanohi Dragon apparently did not understand the concept of nonexistent chains being unbreakable, and tore itself free, helped along by some incinerating blasts. Then it lunged at Lumen, intending to eat it as a light snack. Lumen had no intention of being lunch on the go, and decided to make the creature work for it.

There was something beautiful, Lumen decided, about the 'no exceptions' operation of Kanohi. About the sight of a Kanohi Dragon, fangs bared and ashes falling, hurled backwards over a tower-block, soot and all, by a comparatively miniscule homunculus wearing an even smaller mask. The creature seemed not to agree, and quickly came back on the attack. But now Lumen was ready for it, and while he didn't want to waste all his elemental energy, the alternative was never needing it again. So now he called on that, absorbing huge amounts of shadow and causing the area around them to becoming blindingly bright. Then he released all the energy, drowning the creature in an immense tide of darkness. He held it for as long as he could, ignoring the blinding light, and then collapsed the field of shadows, revealing the silver and ebony Toa once again. "The name's Lumen." He told her, offering a hand to pull her up. "I've no idea who or what 'Yistran' is, but try eat me again and you'll be screaming my name instead." The Toa nodded sullenly. Lhikan reappeared at this point, and gestured to the Toa.

"This is Varia." Lhikan explained sheepishly."She's... a friend."

"A friend?" Lumen asked incredulously. "Well, any friend of Lhikan is a friend of mine. Put 'er there, Varia." He offered her his fist, and she met it, replying grudgingly

"Alright then. That was an impressive battle, even if it was from a wingman." She nodded at the wings that sprouted from his back.

"Hey, hey, hey! I'm nobody's wingman." Lumen retorted. "And look who's talking! Rather effeminate for a Gravity Toa!" Varia slammed him against a wall using her gravity power, and Lumen spiralled away, clutching his heartlight. "Oh, you got me!" he yelped, before giving a final twirl and righting himself. Varia chuckled.

"Alright, alright. Come on, let's go, that little show will almost certainly attract the Dark Hunters." And with this, Lumen was led deeper into the city, wondering exactly what he'd gotten himself into.

When they reached the Coliseum, Lumen was awestruck. Close-up, the building seemed to rise up forever. It was an amazing piece of architecture, so beautiful... it was terrible to see the damage landed on it by the Dark Hunters. Varia leaned over and asked "impressed?" Lumen nodded, and Varia looked smug for some unfathomable reason. He could see other Toa standing guard on the ramparts that surrounded the main tower, and, rather more alarmingly, several Vahki racing towards them. Lumen readied himself for a fight, but Lhikan laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Easy, Lumen. The Vahki won't hurt you. They've come to escort us into the coliseum." The Vahki surrounded them in formation, and began to walk with the Toa, keeping pace with them. Lumen, who in his brief and limited experience of Vahki, had only ever seen them hunting down innocent tourists with the correct papers with ruthless efficiency, leading to a considerable interruption to said tourist's trip to acquire a new mask...

By the time Lumen had finished reminiscing about his previous experiences with the Vahki, they had entered the Coliseum's arena. Lumen didn't think he'd ever seen so many Toa in one place. Some were sparing, others just talked. Many seemed to be shaking, shell-shocked. Lhikan branched off to talk to one of the Toa, and Varia lead Lumen to a group of rather tough Toa, who parted when they saw Varia, revealing Turaga Dume, Metru Nui's ruler. "Varia?" he asked. "What do you want?"

"We have a new recruit, Dume." Varia replied, stepping back to reveal Lumen.

"What a strange one..." Dume muttered. "Well, stranger, have you come to help us in our time of need?"

"It's Toa Lumen, Turaga. And, um... I'm not really sure what's going on, to be quite honest. You see, I live on an island in the Southern Lands, a place called, er, Voya Nui. So we don't really get news too often. In fact, I actually just came here for some sightseeing. So perhaps you could fill me in?" Lumen thought it was rather a good cover, if he thought so himself. Dume examined him shrewdly, but Lumen gave nothing away, he was no stranger to deception. So Dume relented.

"Very well. We are at war with the Dark Hunters, after I refused them permission to build a base here. More Toa are dying every day, but we will stand firm until there is nothing left to fight for. Even so, we need all the help we can get." _Well..._ thought Lumen. _I've really gone too far now, haven't I. At the same time, this is somewhat more interesting, and how often do you get to rub shoulders with some of the greatest Toa of all time? But I could get killed! I have a mission to do, and to be quite honest, the best thing for me to do would be to get the heck out of here. So I should really say... _

"Of course." Lumen said automatically, and mentally kicked himself. _Idiot! I've got myself in a right mess here. What was that, some sort of random 'Toa' reflex? Automatic voluntary service? No wonder we're a rare species... _He stalked away to find some answers, didn't watch where he was going, and nearly walked into a white and orange Toa a mask that initially resembled an adaptive Kakama Nuva worn by a certain Toa Nuva of stone, except this one had large stabiliser fins projecting from the visor. "Sorry..." Lumen mumbled as he pushed past him, but the Toa refused to be brushed off and shot out a hand to grab his arm.

"Toa Tennis, Plasma. You?" he asked.

"Toa Lumen..." Lumen replied; trying to break away, but Tennis ran after him. Lumen whirled round, sword drawn, and found the Toa wielding a bizarre instrument that resembled a net without the actual net, just the frame, and a mesh filling the hole. The mesh glowed orange, and the same substance pulsed along the racket's frame. In short, he was holding a rather odd tennis racket. But the concept of tennis, the game, was unknown to Lumen, so he was rather confused and forgot about his planned attempt on the life of Tennis the Toa. "What on Metru Nui is that?" he asked, pointing at the racket. Tennis looked chuffed.

"Do you like it? It's my personalised weapon, made it myself. I call it the racket and it can also be used to play this game I've invented, which involves using the racket to hit a small ball between two players-"

"Uh..." Lumen was stumped as to what to say in response to this rather odd fellow, and so decided to steer the conversation towards a subject he knew about. "So, your mask... what's it do?"

"Oh, the Kanohi Navis? It can tell you the directions to anywhere in the world, providing you know what it looks like, because you've seen a picture or you've been there or something. You can never get lost with this Kanohi." Lumen nodded as he absorbed the information. That was a very useful mask indeed. He'd never heard of it before. Then again, there were hundreds of different Kanohi. Granted you had your twenty or so common ones, but there were plenty of Kanoka combinations, and just as many Kanohi combinations. "So I overheard your conversation with the Turaga." Tennis said. "You can bunk with me if you like. Want me to take you to the sleeping quarters?" Lumen weighed up his options. A Toa of Plasma could be a useful ally, and he needed one right now. So he smiled and nodded.

"Yes, yes I would." Lumen finally replied, and Tennis led him away. On his way, he saw Lhikan and Varia in conversation with some other Toa he thought he recognised from his history classes as the Toa Mangai. And wondered, yet again, just what he'd got himself into.

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**Yep, that's it. Hopefully the next one will be better.**


	4. Fire

**Chapter 3, late... sorry about this. Most of the chapters will be late, as the next month is a busy one for me. After that, I'll try to get these out quicker. But I digress. Here is the first of a two part piece of sorts, Fire and Ice. Not sure about the icy bit yet. But hey, we'll see. It'll involve Lariska, anyway.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bionicle, or Varia, or any of the other Toa Mangaia. Varia and the non-canon identities of the Toa Mangaia belong to Rusty Red Raptor, and the original concept belongs to Lego.**

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**Chapter 3: Fire...**

_Lumen stood amid the burning ruins of the city, laughing. He had effortlessly destroyed those foolish 'Toa-heroes' and their city, an impressive feat even for himself. And this was just the start. Soon the entire world would fall before him, and at last he would have completed his destiny, to destroy everything, everywhere, time and space, nothing would be spared from his destructive quest. He was completely devoid of empathy for the fallen fighters. Shadows had no warmth. Something stirred and called out for help. A Matoran. Lumen raised his gun and fired at yet another Matoran... no wait, it was him? He was looking up at the sky, dying... no he was standing amid his conquest... a howling wind roared around him as he closed his eyes... and Toa Lumen was blown off his feet, into an all-consuming darkness that tore at his soul..._

Lumen's eyes sprang open, and his first thought was relief. He was alive. Living, breathing. His second was to wonder where on earth he was. Then he remembered that he was in the Dark Hunter war. Which he'd kind of agreed to fight in. He shuddered as the dream came back to him clearly. What was that? It looked like Metru Nui... and then he'd killed himself? He'd been so cold... and yet to determined to bring flaming death to the world. What was that? A vision of his future? But he'd killed himself... as a Matoran. So that was impossible. So what did it mean? Was he headed for a time-destroying bender, or was it a metaphor? Whatever it was, he certainly didn't like it. And yet he recognised the feelings. The inner flame that urged him, every second of every day, to give in to Chaos. Perhaps that was the metaphor? That he was killing what was left of his former self? Or perhaps a warning. But from whom? Lumen buried his head in his hands, utterly confused. He needed to get out, think it over, and try to calm his frayed nerves. But he had no such opportunity as Tennis the Plasma Toa clattered nosily into the chamber, attempting to balance a tall stack of tablets, his 'weapons' and, on the very top, his breakfast. The pile teetered back and forth, then lost its protracted battle with gravity and toppled, showering Lumen with tablets, a pair of tennis rackets and a tube of Bula-paste. Lumen used his Crast to repel the hail, but unfortunately embedded it in the chamber wall, along with Tennis himself. Apparently unperturbed by being slammed into a wall, dusted himself off and retrieved his Bula Paste. "That mask's got quite a kick." He said approvingly. "Must be useful having a mask like that in combat."

"Yes, it is. But doesn't being nearly imbedded in a wall bother you?" Lumen asked, as he attempted to make the wall relinquish the tablets, with mixed success.

"Meh, you should have seen what Varia did to me after I asked her out on a dare." Tennis chuckled, pointing at his back. "Cost me a fortune to get a new armour and replacement spine." Lumen shuddered and prayed that the jovial Toa was kidding about the spine.

"Oh, that reminds me; we're supposed to go on patrol with Lhikan and Varia today."

"What?" Lumen cried, whirling round to face the Toa. "Why us?" Could they be suspicious? They had every right to be...

"Well, Lhikan and Varia want to go out on patrol, and since you're new in town, they figured they might as well take you on a routine run."

"Right, right." Lumen replied, his heartlight's flashing easing. He had to stop being so paranoid. Then again, he knew full well that there were many good reasons for a being to be paranoid, his kind among them.

He and Tennis jogged over to one of the entrance gates where Lhikan and Varia were talking, waiting for them to arrive. Lhikan's blades were glowing again, warming the air around them in the chilly morning air.

"There you are." He said. "We're going to be patrolling in Ga-Metru today, near the laboratories. It's currently under our control, but there have been several reports of increased Dark Hunter activity in the area. It's always better to check..."

"Yes, Lhikan, we all know how you feel about being sure." Varia snapped. "So, rookies, pay attention and do as we tell you."

Later still, the four were walking through Ga-Metru, which was deserted. They'd taken a detour through the backstreets to avoid passing through Dark Hunter territory, and the journey had been a dull one. But suddenly Lhikan held up a hand for silence. "Can you hear that?" he asked. They listened, and Lumen heard a sound that somehow managed to pull at his heartwires. Screaming Matoran.

Elsewhere, five beings lurked in the shadows, watching the Ga-Matoran go about their business. For now. Their leader, a red and grey creature, smiled as he prepared for the attack. He nodded to his comrades, an assortment of criminals from across the universe. Tyrant watched a Matoran shiver as she felt a chill deeper than the innocent cold of the morning. Tyrant had stolen the heat from the area, in readiness for his attack. He yelled a war cry and launched himself into the open, soaring forward on a wave of heat, his squad behind him, and the screams of the Matoran mixing with their orders from the Shadowed One. Betrayal, murder and destruction. Just another day for the Dark Hunters.

Lhikan led the charge, with Varia hot on his heels, as they rushed into the Ga-Metru plaza, which was instantly ignited as Tyrant saw them. "You're too late, Toa! Ga-Metru belongs to the dark Hunters! Try to attack, and my 'friends' will strike you down before you move a bio. And then who will protect your precious Matoran as they burn?" Lhikan and Varia swapped desperate looks. If what the hunter said was true, then they were in deep trouble. Lumen, meanwhile, leaned over to Tennis and whispered "Make a distraction."

"What?" Tennis said. "If I try anything, we'll all be killed!"

"Then use your brains and distract him without a big explosion." Lumen replied, before closing his eyes and tuning out the situation.

"Hey, Tyrant!" Tyrant whirled round at the sound of the name, wondering who dared…

"Yeah, you!" Tennis continued, feeling terrified. "I gotta know; why are you doing this? What do you gain from siding with the Dark Hunters?"

"Power. More power, to bring my subjects under control…"

"Ah-hah! So you've lost control over your little tinpot dictatorship." Tennis yelled, seizing the lead. "You need help from the Dark Hunters! Losing your touch, are we?"

"Far from it, little Toa. I am the master of my land, where no shadow is free from my control. Look up corruption and deceit in the dictionary, and there you'll find me!"

"Ooh, shouldn't have said that." Lumen said, snapping his eyes open and leaping forward. "Because I'm calling your bluff." And with that, he stepped forward.

At once, four Dark Hunters attacked from around the area, but Lumen was ready for them, as he had found them in the shadows. But he had somehow missed the first, who launched himself from a side alley, screaming. Lumen felt the scream crash over him, a piercing, insistent screech that seemed to shatter his armour, his mask, his mind... shattering it and unveiling whatever was beneath. The sound rose to a roar of the wind, then dissipated, and he returned to reality...

He shook his head, trying to clear it of the sound, and then looked round to see what the others were doing. Varia and Lhikan were fighting three at once, Varia pinning them to the floor and Lhikan roasting them. But they seemed oddly sluggish. In fact, he felt really drowsy…

"So when will you discover the truth?" Tyrant asked. "The reason for your defeat?"

"St-stealing our body heat… c-cooling us until w-we can no l-longer f-function…" Varia snarled, attempting to pin him, missing and staggering. Tennis made a desperate strike with his arm, but the Plasma blast sailed way over the creature's head. His head twitched as he attempted to move it as his joints froze up. Lumen too could feel the cold. He could hear a soft dripping and sizzling… his eyes were drawn to a pipe running above their heads, where the plasma beam had struck home, and the steady drip of molten metal to the pavement below. And then he realized the true intent of Tennis's head movement, passed off as a reflex.

"Oh, you're good." He whispered, as he watched the metal rapidly being eaten away, until at last… a torrent of oil fell onto the 'tyrant' as the pipes collapsed, and the already warmed up oil instantly ignited upon contact with the creature. He writhed as the burning liquid spread, and he rolled around, trying to extinguish the flames. Meanwhile, Lhikan, Lumen and Varia returned to the fight, only to find their combatants had fled. Which just left Tyrant… the being absorbed the flames in a flash of light, his eyes blazing with a rage even hotter than the fires that had scorched his armour.

"You can't beat me with burns, you ignorant Stone Apes! You will never win this war!"

"No one makes a monkey out of me!" Varia snapped back, activating her power over gravity to reduce him to that of about, oh, the weight of a tennis ball? She mimed hitting a ball with a racket, and Tennis caught the hint, readying for a serve.

"Hey, Tyrant?" he cried, and Tyrant looked down at him, ready to strike. But Tennis had raised his racket, and was ready to swing. "It's game, set..." he smashed the dictator with a forehand serve, sending him flying through the air... "and match!" he cheered, as his adversary splashed down into the sea in a spray of Protodermis. "Good game Varia, we should play doubles more often." He said, clanking fists with her. Varia nodded.

"Yep, it was fun. But I don't think I could compete with that serve." She joked, causing Tennis to blush under his armour.

During this exchange of Tennis Talk, Lhikan had been extinguishing the remaining flames and rescuing trapped Matoran, with assistance from Lumen and his Kanohi Crast to remove rubble. They'd pulled several Matoran free already, but as Lumen took a step forward, he found himself stepping into nothing. Reeling backwards and landing hard on the rubble, he gaped into the hole below him, where a portion of the lab had collapsed into the tunnels below. Chemicals poured into the hole. Lhikan spotted it, and leaned over to look into its depths. "Anyone down there?" Lumen asked. Lhikan looked into the hole, trying to detect the heat signature of a trapped being. He found something, but it looked like a Rahi. "Just a Rahi beast. Come on, we may need reinforcements if the Hunters want this part of the city."

"Right..." Lumen said, turning away from the pit and walking away. But as he did so, he could have sworn he heard someone cry out from within...

They arrived back at the coliseum to find a crowd starting to gather, surrounding some hidden object within. Without a moment's hesitation, Lhikan forced his way through the crowd, to stand beside a Toa of air wearing a Volitak. Lumen realised with a jolt that this was Nidhiki, the traitor. Already he could feel the shadows within him, and the frightened being that cowered in the corner, constantly looking over his shoulder for the day that his shadow would claim him. Lumen could sympathise with that. On the other hand, even Lumen wouldn't have dreamed of betraying the city. Lhikan spoke, bringing Lumen back to reality with a jolt. "What happened?" he asked, apparently to the thing at his feet, which turned out to be a Toa, his armour shredded and twisted into scraps, torn open like tinned food, exposing ravaged tissue beneath. He might live, but he'd never use that arm again.

"D-D-Dark... Hunter... in the Archives... too many... and... oh Mata Nui... and..." the Toa shuddered, his eyes rolled back and he keeled over and lay still. Someone was screaming for a medic, but it was obvious that he was dead. Lumen felt a stab of pity for the Toa, but swiftly moved on to the warning he'd tried to give them before he'd died. And the wounds. This poor being hadn't just been attacked. He'd been shredded; something had relentlessly torn him open. And hidden among the frenzied blows was something more... Lumen narrowed his eyes, searching for that last piece of the puzzle, it was staring him right in the Kanohi, he just knew it... but it was Tennis who found it.

"Look at that." He said, pointing at the deceased being's chest. The others looked, those at the back craning their necks to see. Lightning cracked across the sky, throwing it into sharp relief, a single, deep slit that ran straight through the being's heartlight and down his chest, crossed by a similar line that ran horizontally through the heartlight. This was no accident. Curiously, the cuts stopped at the borders of the circular chest decoration on the armour, reinforced to protect the vital organs, forming a rudimentary Matoran 'T'. The medic had now arrived and taken stock of the situation. Instead, she began to perform a quick post-mortem, at Lhikan's behest.

"He'd lost a lot of blood, and suffered extensive deep cuts. He's suffered major trauma, he took quite a beating... oh Mata Nui, look at this!" the young medic had lifted him up, revealing a shocking injury. His back armour had been forced inwards, a deep crater in the metal, which mercifully hid the inevitable spinal trauma. How he'd managed to get back to the coliseum was a mystery. "It's wet...?" the medic said, her hands coming back from the wound with condensing droplets of water. She looked up at Lhikan, looking helpless and confused. This was beyond her training. If she'd been lucky enough to have any. Some of the more fragile members of the assembled crowd had retired to the relative shelter of their quarters. Lhikan looked to Varia, Nidhiki and several other Toa who Lumen recognised as high-ranking commanders in the Dark Hunter wars.

"Meeting in the council chambers, all of you." He then called to Tennis and Lumen. "You two, come with me, I'll debrief you after the meeting. But first... remove his body. Meadie will show you where to go." Meadie, the medic, stood up, brushing away tears, and led Lumen and Tennis, doing their best to look professional, away from the grisly scene in the coliseum.

Lumen and Tennis slipped into the council chambers to find the gathered Toa Mangaia in full swing. "If the Dark Hunters have the Archives, then they could appear anywhere in the city!" Lhikan said, fearful.

"We should send in a strike team, flush 'em out." Nidhiki shouted, but Varia snapped

"You may have a death wish, Nidhiki, but the rest of us feel our lives are too precious to throw away on a suicidal, pointless quest. Or do you want to end up like that unfortunate who came back here to prevent us making that mistake?"

"I agree with Varia, we can't risk lives in unknown territory." Izor chipped in, approving nods following his statement. Trir, a Toa of Gravity, but thankfully for Lumen's concepts of normality, a male, added

"I believe the most sensible thing to do would be to send in team to assess the situation, and then they can return to the surface with the information necessary to launch an assault to reclaim the archives." Muttered agreements followed this, and Nidhiki threw up his hands.

"Alright, alright, I know when I'm beat. We'll go with Trir's idea. But who will go on this team? Personally, I am more than prepared to-"

"I will go." Lhikan said, cutting across him in a tone that bridged no argument. Despite that...

"But you're our leader! We need you to remain above the surface, it's too dangerous..." Kadier cried, alarmed. "Sir, I know you want to help, but really, you'd serve better up here..." Kadier's voice petered out under the harsh gaze of Lhikan.

"I repeat: I will lead the team. I think we would do well to remember that I was appointed because of my skills in the field as well as in command. We must face the facts: We are facing a very dangerous mission in unknown territory, and therefore we need to be at our best. Having been chosen as the best fighter here, I see no reason for me not to go on this mission. I have the best chance of success, and this is one of the most important missions of the war." Not a single hint of arrogance past his lips during this speech. "It is my duty, as it has been since I was chosen to lead the Toa Army, to lead from the front, and that is what I intend to do, as is my duty. And if I fail, then it is my destiny." No one questioned his decision from then on.

"So..." Nidhiki continued, hiding his shock under bluster. "Who will join you on this expedition?"

"I will." Varia replied. "Because unlike you, I'll be able to complete the mission before someone kills me. You can't afford to make any mistakes in this war."

"Who else?" Lhikan asked.

"Me." Lumen said, stepping from the shadows.

"You?" Varia asked sceptically. "Why on earth should we let you come?"

"Let's just say... I have prior experience with the dark." Lumen replied, having no intention in flat-out revealing he was a Toa of Shadow. Because that never went down well.

"What do you think this is? A peacetime stroll through a museum?" Varia demanded.

"Far from it. Perhaps it's you who thinks that. You need me." Lumen retorted.

"Oh really? Well prove it, hotshot. Take the night patrol." Varia responded, smirking.

"The night patrol?" Lumen asked.

"Yes. You and me, patrolling the block tonight. Impress me, and I'll let you come along." Varia replied. Lumen nodded, as the two Toa glared at one another from across the table.

"Then I can promise that this'll be a night to remember."

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**Okay, and so we set the scene… Apologies to Rusty Red Raptor if I have misportrayed her characters, just let me know and I'll make sure those mistakes aren't repeated. Also, so as to give something back to the world, anyone who wishes to use my OCs is welcome to ask.**


	5. Toa of the Night

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**Well here's a half-length chapter, which is not the conclusion to 'Fire and Ice'. I'm saving that for a more important chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bionicle, or the OC Varia, who belongs to Rusty Red Raptor. Lumen and Tennis are mine.**

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Chapter 4: Toa of the Night

Lumen stood in a dark street, listening to the sounds of the light, and turning his sights to the shadows. The nigh usually soothed him, but tonight the shadows refused to take his stress away. He was intrigued, wondering how fate had dealt him this hand. He'd volunteered to join a suicidal team heading deep under the archives... why? He'd said they needed him. So... he'd volunteered out of concern? The whispering wind alerted him to bigger problems. He wasn't alone. He immediately slipped into a side alley, praying his throbbing heartlight wouldn't give him away. He stood in the darkness for several minutes, waiting and listening for whomever, or whatever, had crossed his path. But he couldn't hear anything more, and so he decided to move on. A mistake that nearly proved fatal.

Despite the odds stacked so high against him that they threatened to collapse on top of him and deprive the daggers heading towards him the privilege of killing him, Lumen rounded a corner just before the daggers clattered to the pavement behind him. Lumen threw himself round the corner and searched the shadows for his assailant. There they were, perched atop a spire. Lumen concentrated on that spire, or more specifically at the shadows at its base, and made them rise up towards his assailant, a surging black tide. But the being saw it coming and leapt from the spire, swinging from various ledges until they reached the ground. She called out. "I know you're here." Lumen didn't move, and the being laughed coldly. "There's no point hiding..." Suddenly she was gone, and Lumen peered around to see where she had gone. Then he felt the dagger at his throat. "...because I always know where you are." She hissed in his ear. The dagger pressed deeper, but then it was Lumen who vanished, literally swallowed up by shadows. Lariska snapped back the knife, looking round for her prey. All she could see was black...

Lariska froze as her vision went dark. She was blind. But she could still hear, she could still hunt her prey... besides, he was a Toa, so it wasn't like she was in too much danger. They still struggled to grasp the fact that they had to kill to win a war. Not that many of them got the chance... something hurled her skyward, a pummelling blow which left her breathless as she crashed down onto the cobbles. "You can hit me and hide in the dark all you want, Toa of Mud." She spat, turning her head this way and that to imitate sight. She heard the clinks of armour coming towards her, and she leapt up and kicked the Toa, hearing a satisfying grunt as she found his mask.

Lumen reeled backwards from the hunter's kick, using his Crast to save and hurl himself at her, throwing his weight behind a punch that almost broke his arm. Thankful for his biomechanical makeup, capable of taking sterner punishment than that of a purely organic being, he landed some distance away, turning to face his foe, but she had vanished. He heard the whistle of flying daggers, and with a flick of the wrist, produced a pair of his own, made of the darkest shadows. His opponent, who he now identified as Lariska, feared operative of the dark Hunters, attempted to dodge them, but being made of nothing meant they weren't subject to air-resistance, and so they reached her before she could move aside, one burying itself in her leg. She howled in pain before leaping up at the walls and, to Lumen's disbelief, bouncing from one wall to another, up the narrow street. Lumen was impressed, but despite her considerable athletic skill and supposed claim to have defeated every adversary, she usually had come prepared. And no one could be prepared for a Shadow Toa. So he triggered his Crast and repulsed her, knocking her from the air as he simultaneously began to drain the shadows from the area. "You know, Lariska," he began, as he strode up the alley towards her. "or rather, you don't know, Lariska, that I'm not a Toa of 'Mud' as you so quaintly put it. No, I'm something a little more impressive. Something a little more... _dangerous._" I am a creature from those delightfully dark fairy-tales the Matoran tell their children. I'm the Toa of the night, who comes to get those children if they've been bad, and spirit them away to Karzahni. And Lariska..." he raised his hands as he walked still nearer, like some demented film mummy. "You've been a very, very bad girl." He scolded mockingly, as he unleashed a tide of shadows from his palms.

The sledgehammer blows were eerily silent, Lumen thought. Shadow made no noise, which was always rather creepy. Something in a being's primal systems always associated battle with noise, so this silent destruction was altogether more bizarre. Like watching a movie with the sound off. Eventually, he relaxed his tense arms and surveyed the devastation before him. "So if you just run away now, I might leave you be." He continued, waiting for her broken body to emerge from the dissipating shadow, as the natural balance of light and dark in the street restored itself. Lumen blinked. This was either taking a really long time, or... "You lose, 'Toa of the night'. I outgrew bedtime stories before you even picked up a Kanohi, but even if I hadn't, you're a rather pathetic bogeyman brought to life."

"Well, perhaps." Lumen sighed, with a shrug, before there was a purple glow and he hurled Lariska away from him. "I reckon I've got the 'repulsive' part nailed, though."

"You... totally... abuse... your... Crast..." Lariska spat, as she fell from the wall. "What are you? I thought you do-gooder Toa thought the Crast to be immoral. As if a mask could be good or evil..."

"Well I'm not exactly your average Toa..." Lumen told her, spreading his bat-like wings wide for the full effect as he hovered up into the air, his glowing mask lending a ghostly glow to the effect, and towered over Lariska, blocking out the moonlight. "I am a Toa... _of nightmares..._" as the shadows began to churn and writhe to his summons. "Run, mortal. Before I scrape whatever's left of your mangled soul from your armour." Lariska absorbed this demonstration, and the shock and fear penetrated her rational thoughts and struck home in her childish fears. Screaming and sobbing, she ran off into the night.

Lumen dropped back to the ground and folded away his wings, debating his decision not to make the last blow. He knew Lariska by reputation, and it probably would have been the best thing to do. On the other hand, doing so could have caused untold damage to time itself, and Lumen wasn't about to let morality get in his way now. So why didn't he kill her, if he was ignoring his morality? _Perhaps... _Oh Mata Nui, there was that little voice he'd heard Tarsi's mentor Takena complaining about... now what had she said that had preceded? _Perhaps..._ the voice continued, unabated, _it is you becoming more moral that made you merciful..._ Oh lordy, how long had that been there? This was seriously bad news for a Toa of his occupation... But then he heard running footsteps and Tennis and Varia arrived on the scene. Varia took one look at the destroyed scene, and asked "What did you do?"

"Um, Dark Hunter tried to stab me... several times, I think. I lost count. So I repaid her in kind. Sorry about the mess..." a mess it certainly was. One end of the street was rubble and dust, the other had a cookie-cutter hole in the wall where he'd knocked Lariska into it before his final performance. But instead of slaughtering him, Varia grinned behind her mask.

"Must have been one Karzahni of a battle." She said. "Seeing as you've wrecked the entire street. Any idea who she was?"

"Um... Lariska." Lumen said. Tennis was awed. Varia played poker face, but shook her head slightly and mouthed something that looked like 'spoilers'. What that meant was quite beyond Lumen, so he ignored it.

"You defeated Lariska? She's one of the most terrifying lieutenants of the Dark Hunters! She's killed more Toa than any of the others."

"Well..." Lumen said, trying, and failing, to be modest. "I guess she just wasn't prepared for someone like me."

"Pfff!" Varia replied by way of a comment, but she was smiling. "Alright, you've impressed me. Good work, Lumen." They clanked fists, and Lumen noted the fact she'd referred to him by name. He really had impressed her.

"Um, Lumen, you've got something on your armour. A bit of moss, or something." Tennis interjected, pointing to the offending green stain.

"Oh, right, thanks." Lumen replied, making a mental note to scrub his armour more often. That said, he probably got in the several thousand years he spent in almost suspended animation. He brushed it off, and then the trio continued on their night-time patrol, failing to notice the black whisp that sunk into the shadows, or the fact that that green stain wasn't gone, and wasn't moss...

****

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**Very short chapter, just because chapter three would end up really long. And a little combat writing practice. I think it was still rather one-sided, but then I suppose Lariska was completely unprepared for a Toa of Shadow. Anyways, next chapter we head into the archives! **

PS: Stupid document editor acting up... curse it!


	6. Into the Darkness

**Chapter 5, a little shorter than planned, but I found what I considered to be a good cutoff point. At last, we reach the point I've been delaying for so long: Into the archives!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bionicle, but all OCs (minus Varia) are mine.**

**Advertisment: Want to add a little messed-up-Toa spice to your stories? No, me neither, but if you do, then just ask to borrow one of mine.**

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Chapter 5: Into the darkness

Lumen crouched atop the coliseum's outer wall, doing a passable impression of a gargoyle modelled after some ancient warrior. He knew he should really be heading for his bed, he would regret this later... he could barely keep his eyes open... but he needed to think. It was strange, since yesterday, he'd felt somewhat more kind, friendly and generally good-natured. And he didn't like it one bit. And he felt lighter, springier. He felt younger, and more energetic, which was saying something, as he hadn't been a Toa for too long, compared to some of the others. He was certainly among the last Toa of the Matoran Universe, if not the last. But still, he did. He felt almost like he would lift off from the positive upsurge. But, being a Toa of Shadow, it scared him stupid. "What's happening to me?" he whispered. This wasn't just some moral swing, he could tell. He really was changing. But into what, he had no idea. Glancing at his jet-black armour to reassure himself, he noticed the stain was still there. It shone, a bright, vibrant green, and it actually made him quite ill. As creatures of darkness, Toa of Shadow had an aversion to brightness, even if it was just vibrant colour. He motioned to scrub it off, closing his eyes so he couldn't see, and his exhaustion claimed him.

"_Lumen..." Lumen jerked awake at the voice. He couldn't see anything. So instead he listened to the voice. "Lumen... please be careful..." _

"_Who's there!" Lumen cried, but the sound didn't seem to travel very far into the blackness weighing down on his eyeballs. Besides, he knew, somehow, that the voice wouldn't hurt him. It was benevolent, possibly even bordering on kindly. _

"_Please, boy, watch your step, and maybe some of you will survive..."_

"_What do you mean some?" Lumen cried. "Who's going to die? Who are you?"_

"_Please be careful... I am..."_

"_Lumen!" Tennis's face burst through the shadows as he grabbed Lumen by the neck and hauled him close..._

"Aah!" Lumen cried, as he was literally pulled from his dream to find himself hanging over empty space, being supported by Tennis, who yanked him roughly back onto the walkway around the coliseum wall. Tennis was panting loudly, having just sprinted to save Lumen from a nasty splattering below, and Lumen could see where he'd melted a still smoking handhold from the wall. "Thanks..." he muttered; his thoughts still on the fast-fading dream. He knew he had to remember... Who had spoken to him? It was important, he was sure...

"Come on, you look dead on your feet." Tennis told him. "Come on, bed, now, or I'll smash you there instead."

"Hah hah, funny." Lumen said sarcastically.

"Oh, I don't joke about my threats. To do so is to remove their credibility." He said this with a perfectly straight face, and Lumen decided to hotfoot it back to his bunk before he flew there instead.

Tarsi descended into the depths of the great chamber that held Metru Nui, searching for Lumen, although in her heart she knew he would be long gone. Still, she had to try, if only for the inquiries later on. The burning city did not touch her personally, as she had never set foot here. She'd never even intended to go, unlike so many aspired to. But the psychic imprints of thousands of Matoran's fond memories and heartbreaking thoughts as they were torn from it, either by necessity or death, called out to her, and sent her reeling, so that she crashed into a Le-Metru chute. The ancient engines still ran, albeit at a slower pace, obeying their programming and, in the light of a vastly reduced power supply, had slowed to a crawl to conserve power until a time when the power was restored or a trained technician chose to return them to full speed. Not that that was ever going to happen. Tarsi, stunned by slapping into the chute, allowed the tide of memories to overwhelm her, and she sunk beneath it, oblivious to the real world. For now.

The next morning, Lumen was in the makeshift firing range set up in the coliseum for Toa who wanted to keep their skills sharp. Or felt the disturbing need to pump blasts into the targets till there wasn't much left of them. Lumen belonged to the former group, and in-between shots could be heard loudly expressing his displeasure at the second group reducing the number of targets for him to shoot at, employing a long string of language colourful enough to colour the air a very deep blue indeed. In the end, his tirade was ended by something smacking into his leg. Stooping to retrieve the offending lump and consign it to oblivion, Lumen was mystified to find a small green orb, covered in a thin layer of fur. "Oh, there it is." Tennis cried, jogging over to retrieve the orb. But Lumen held it out of his reach.

"What on earth's this?" he asked.

"It's a tennis ball. You hit it with rackets." Tennis replied, snatching the ball back and bouncing it on his racket.

"Isn't that the game you claim to have invented?" Lumen asked. "It sounds rather dull to me." The ball fell into Tennis's hand with a thud, and for a moment Lumen thought he'd gone too far, something he felt inexplicably guilty about. That was new. But then Tennis's stony face cracked into a broad grin.

"Oh really? Well why don't you try it and see...?" Tennis asked, walking away before throwing in a parting shot. "Unless you're afraid of the idea of having an orb being hurled at you."

"What? Of course not. It'll be you who's afraid when I'm done with you." Lumen snapped back.

"Alright then, if you say so. Catch!" Tennis called, tossing a racket to Lumen, who caught it uncertainly. Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea...

"Ready?" Tennis called from across their makeshift 'court'.

"'Course." Lumen retorted, juggling with the racket. "Give it your best shot with your daft furry orbs." They didn't weigh anything, so how could they be dangerous?

"Alright then. I'll serve first." Tennis called back, hefting an orb that looked rather metallic. It glinted in the morning sunlight, before suddenly glowing a searing orange. Along with the wires of his racket.

"Um, actually, I think I can hear Lhikan calling..." Lumen began, but he was forced to throw himself aside as the searing ball flew the length of the court, smacked into the wall behind him and bounced back to Tennis, who whacked it high into the sky before batting it at Lumen once again. Lumen swore some more as he dodged, and Tennis laughed hysterically, so much that the power behind his strokes diminished considerably, so Lumen at last felt confident enough to attempt the hit the ball back. "Take this!" he yelled, smacking it towards Tennis, who somehow managed to catch it and throw it back to him. Lumen hit it again, and Tennis threw it back to him again, although Lumen missed. After several more throws, Lumen was hitting it much more often, almost every time, and Tennis smiled as he watched his first successful pupil in the art of tennis. _This really could catch on;_ He decided. _If I could just convince Varia to join us for a game..._

He was then brought back down to earth from this appealing fantasy, before it reached its eventual conclusion of Varia hitting him with the racket instead of the ball, after a spectacular volley by Lumen collided with his cheek.

Later still, they found themselves in the council chambers once again, being briefed by Lhikan. Lhikan looked round at the assembled faces condemned to death alongside him: Varia, who was clearly not a Toa despite her claim to be one, Lumen, the bizarre, bat winged creature who'd appeared only a few days ago, and had somehow managed to single-handedly defeat the Dark Hunter lieutenant Lariska. Tennis, the Toa who spent his free time trying to get the other Toa to play his game. And another new face, a Matoran by the name of Zual, who had worked in most parts of the archive, and currently worked as a guide, so he knew the place fairly well. He would also be the team's chronicler. _Such a waste..._ Lhikan thought sadly, before fixing his thoughts on the mission. "Right then, team," he began. "You've all been chosen," Lumen snorted at this. He didn't know about the Matoran, but everyone else on the team had demanded they went, including Lhikan himself. Save Tennis, who'd simply tagged along. "_As I was saying,_ you've all be chosen to go on this scouting trip. We'll be in unknown territory here, against an enemy that is extremely deadly on familiar turf, let alone unknown. We will remain there only as long as is necessary to confirm a Dark Hunter presence, and locate their base. We have a week to do this, and if we do not return before then, the Toa Army will march on the archives, taking our death as conformation of Dark Hunter presence. I won't lie to you, this will be extremely perilous. But it does not matter how many of us perish, we must complete the mission. We will go on until there is no one left to do so. Do you all understand?" Lhikan wanted to turn away and sob. This was abominable, how could he say this? He was trading their lives for the lives of the other Toa. But actually, it would probably be better if... "actually, if one of us is left, then they must attempt to return to the surface to report back. No sense dying for nothing." There, now he could sleep a little easier. If at all.

"Now prepare your weapons, Kanohi, and anything else that will help us. This is a scouting mission, but well-armed is well-prepared. So take anything of use. We'll assemble at dawn tomorrow, at the Coliseum entrance." Lhikan finished, glancing round at the four Kanohi looking back at him, gave them a curt nod, and walked out of the chamber.

Dawn the next day was, in Lumen's opinion, rather depressing. It was also an artist's dream vista, a panorama of deep hues of red and orange, beautifully blended together in an arc across the sky, becoming brighter and brighter as the sky sank into the burning sun. On the other hand, the blood-red was the sort of thing that made Psionics Toa turn over and go back to sleep, cancelling any plans they had that day. Superstitious lunatics... Still, Lumen didn't like the look of that sky. He was standing just inside the main entrance, slowly turning into a frozen Toasicle, and briefly wondered how that would taste. He was just asking himself why he didn't forgo the traditional behaviour of a Toa of Shadow and simply move out of the shadows to warm up when Lhikan emerged, a small flame dancing merrily in his hands. Lhikan still looked like he was haunted by their potential deaths, and Lumen, already touchy, snapped "Hey, Lhikan!" Lhikan looked over at him, puzzled. "We're not dead yet, you know, so could you please stop acting like you're in mourning?" Lhikan, not a morning person, hurled the fireball at him, but instead of dodging it, Lumen let it sink into his chest, and he sank to the floor, blissful, "Aah... That's better." He sighed, feeling the heat spreading through his icy body from his chest, and earning a completely mystified look from Lhikan, who definitely hadn't expected him to let it hit him. He shrugged, deciding to leave the strange Toa to it and bemoan the lack of something to wake him up in the morning. Like a drink or something convenient. Lumen, on the other hand, was completely mystified to see Lhikan bemoaning the nonexistence of coffee; then remembered that, a few decades ago, coffee had been a novelty to him. It was a Bota-Magnan thing. It had been quite funny for a while, watching all the hyperactive Matoran go about their work like watching a sped-up film. Unfortunately, the increased speed with which the Matoran set about their task was offset by the fact that they were constantly shaking and kept dropping things.

Tennis emerged next, bouncing a tennis ball on his racket with only the occasional glance at it. Lumen wondered just how long he'd been playing the game he'd invented, and if anyone else had agreed to play with him. A short way behind the Toa of Plasma came the archive tour guide Zual, which just left Varia... "Aargh!" Lumen yelled as Varia leapt from the coliseum and landed not even a millibio from him. Had he been standing, he would have toppled over, but as it happened, he was on the floor, and therefore unable to be embarrassed that way. He quickly scrambled to his feet as Lhikan began to speak. "You all know our mission. To penetrate the archives and find out whether the Dark Hunters really have taken the archives, and if so, where they are operating from. Zual will serve as our guide. If only he and one Toa are left, then abandon the mission and return to the surface. It will do no good for us all to die down there." They stood silent for a while, then: "Right then, if everyone's ready, let us go, and, by the grace of the Great Spirit, return." There was muttered agreement to the sentiment, and then they set off towards Ga-Metru, where Lumen had fought off Tyrant to maintain control of the Metru. But when they arrived, they were wary. The Dark Hunters had already attempted to take this area of Ga-Metru, they might do so again. But they encountered no-one as they made their way to the harbour to board a pre-arranged boat. Lumen remained confused as to why on earth they were going out to sea, but said nothing for the moment. They cast off and sailed for a short while, and then Lumen saw it, the construct looming out of the darkness.

"The Archives stretch out into the sea. Well, under it anyway. So we have a few of these rigs to get down to those parts quickly, to plug leaks and such." Zual told the four Toa. "But to make them economically viable, their primary function is as a Lightstone Mine. At least, that's what we tell Dume. But in actuality, we use them to dig into the bedrock, as part of our ongoing geological research. We lock them up when we're not using them." Zual stared at his feet now, avoiding the stern gaze of Lhikan.

"Were it not wartime, Archivist, there would be an inquiry into this." He growled. Then he relented. "However, given the situation, I am prepared to overlook it. For now. But after the war, I want these drills earning their keep."

"Yes, Toa Lhikan." Zual replied, as he moored the boat and began to nimbly scramble up the access ladder.

The four Toa followed him up the frozen ladder and into the rig itself, dark, sodden and dripping. Zual led them through the maze of machinery to a lift shaft. Zual wrenched open the door of the lift and they call clambered in and the lift began to descend. But Zual was surprised. "I haven't pulled the lever yet!" he cried, looking around at the walls rising up past them. Lumen looked past him to the open door.

"Zual... you said these places are under lock and key, correct?" he asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

"Yes." Zual replied.

"But you just pushed the door open." Lumen replied. Then he yelled "Out, everyone out!" but by then it was too late, and Lumen could only watch as the Dark Hunter loomed over the edge of the shaft and cut the chain. Suddenly the descending walls became nothing more than a blur, and they found themselves plunging down, faster and faster, into the darkness.


	7. Final ChapterWhere did it all go wrong?

**Right then, I abandoned this story a while ago, but the fact that I didn't finish it properly really bugged me. However, since I conveniently ended it on a cliffhanger, and Lumen happened to have a mask of time, I can wrap this up in the time-honoured tradition of an awful, but convenient, way to end a story. I tried to make it slightly more respectable however, and much is probably inspired by the ending of the 10th Doctor's run on Doctor Who. Does anyone in America seen that? But whatever, I'm just gonna get on with it. Here's my ending, my cheap way out, and look out for Lumen, Tennis and Varia in other stories (well Varia's not mine, so of course you'll see her in other stories. Go read them if you like the character, I highly recommend Rusty Red Raptor's work. Lumen and Tennis will pop up in mine, hopefully, although if anyone else wants to use them, just let me know.)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bionicle, it belongs to the Lego Company, but Lumen and Tennis are mine and Varia belongs to Rusty Red Raptor.**

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Where did it all go wrong?

The last dying rays of the sun splayed out over the shores of Metru Nui, and cast shadows from the lines of pale grey stones on the sand. Each one inscribed with Matoran Letters and symbols of one of the islands in the Matoran universe. An eternal tribute to the brave soldiers who fought in the Toa-Dark Hunter wars. Further down the beach, a row of stones the colour of granite marked out the fallen Hunters. Once, these graves would have been visited by hundreds of beings, but now they lay forlorn and untended, as the sun faded for the very last time, the last vestiges of power from the fallen giant of the Matoran Universe, Mata Nui. But there was still one last visitor come to pay his respects. He appeared to form from the shadows themselves as he appeared from the abandoned city, his armour black at night and a cloak swishing round his ankles. His armour was scratched and pockmarked, and carried a particularly nasty gash where the metal had been almost completely burned away, a dead grey colour now. He walked through the field of graves, not even glancing as he passed headstone after headstone, until at last he stopped and turned to the right, walking down the row, still without even glancing at the graves around him. His footsteps walked mechanically, because his eyes were dead. Once they had burned with fire, but the flames had long since been extinguished in his icy blue eyes, which now were dull. But his feet knew the path he was taking; they'd taken it so many times before. Finally, he stopped and turned before four graves. To anyone else who had visited, they would be just another headstone. But to him, they were the most important things he knew. They all marked the deaths of the few who had ever cared about him. He remembered it like it was yesterday. He had too, because every night he dreamed he was still in the plummeting lift shaft. They'd panicked. And that had wasted the last few seconds they'd had to save themselves. Lumen had managed to save himself from the same fate with his Crast, but it couldn't defend the others... and so only he'd survived. Well, with Lhikan dead, and the archives indeed taken, things hadn't lasted long for the Toa. Later on, there'd been an uprising against the Dark Hunters, which happily coincided with the Brotherhood/Dark Hunter wars turning against the Dark Hunters, forcing them to retreat. Eventually, Terridax had once again taken over the universe, and fate had played out its final battle all over again. Mata Nui had triumphed against the Makuta, and the Matoran had fled the dying robot. Only Lumen had stayed, forever haunting the graves of his friends who had perished because he hadn't come up with an escape plan. Tennis wouldn't have even gone if it wasn't for him... dry sobs and spasms wracked his body in his grief. If only he could go back and change things... but he could, couldn't he? He wore the Kanohi Vahi, mask of time, stolen so many years ago now. It was old and tarnished, but certainly still workable. But could he change time? What would happen to him? But Lumen didn't care now. He had nothing left, so even the risk of being trapped in a potential eternal paradox was not to deter him now. Of course, it would be so simple... all he had to do was stop himself getting the mask... Lumen laughed for the first time in many thousands of years, a dry croak of a chuckle, and then the Vahi glowed gold and he vanished.

_The large, spherical room was still brightly lit, the white walls increasing the glare. Including the pedestal in the centre of the room, which was led up to by a thin walkway. Upon which rested the aim of his search. The Kanohi Vahi. But to get to it, he would have to get through the electrified force-field, crackling with power in case anyone was daft enough not to know what would happen. Oh, and the chasm surrounding the pedestal. And the spikes that filled it. Having no intention to become a well-done Toa kebab, Lumen was not going to attempt to actually try and get past those defences to reach the Vahi. He didn't need too, anyway. Because there were no other Shadow Toa. And therefore no-one was prepared for him. And no matter how hard you tried, you could not remove all shadow. Same as, no matter how dark things seemed, there would always be light. Both were inextinguishable. But the point being, in this room, the primary remaining shadow was underneath the Vahi. Where it blocked the light. And that was all he needed. Summoning a small amount of shadow energy, struggling to maintain it in the bright light, he concentrated on the Vahi, and, quite suddenly, it fell into its pedestal. As if it has passed through it. But it never hit the bottom. Instead, it dropped out of the shadow floating above Lumen's hands, cupped in anticipation of the falling mask. He caught it, and lifted it up to the light. It was a marvel of carving, despite its great age. It looked like a mask that could contain power over time. It felt like a mask that could contain power over time. He knew a piece of art when he saw it. His one weakness under the facade. No one could be an all-guns blazing action hero all the time. Anyone who believed different had never tried to be. Because whenever you thought you'd achieved what you were trying to do, someone always had to come along and ruin it, usually with as much style and class as you had, if not more. In fact, he could feel someone standing behind him right now..._

"_So this is how far you've fallen, Lumen? Theft?" asked the voice he had heard before. Except now it really was behind him. He whirled round, to face the psionics Toa who was leaning casually on the doorframe. An attitude so reminiscent of his own, irritatingly so. But what was even more irritating was the battalion of soldiers behind her, weapons raised and trained on his forehead. Lumen checked their weapons and with a gulp realised that they were sufficiently powerful to put a very large hole in his head. But all he had to do was slip the Vahi on and stop time to make a swift exit. But suddenly he realised it wasn't there. He spun round to look at the pedestal, horror-struck, and saw the Vahi sitting atop it once more. And for a second, he caught a glimpse of a black-armoured figure who stood beside it, a figure who looked an awful lot like... him? He was shocked beyond belief. So shocked that he never saw the psionics blast coming, and by the time he'd been knocked to the ground, it was far too late. The guards surrounded him and snapped suppressing cuffs on his wrists behind his back, then hauled him up and led him away, and Tarsi's smirking face followed him all the way. But Lumen didn't care. His mind was in freefall, how could this have happened? Why did it happen? And who was the being who'd replaced the Vahi back on the pedestal before vanishing? It all felt so wrong, like this was not how things were meant to be... he was going to take the Vahi and go back in time to the Dark Hunter Wars... wait, what? No, he was going to go back to Karda Nui to save his mentor, Krika... but what if something went wrong? It all made no sense... no sense at all... of course this was what was supposed to happen, this was what was happening, wasn't it? He didn't know how the mask had reappeared back on the pedestal, but next time... no, there wouldn't be a next time. Somehow, he knew that, as if someone had told him that, a long time ago... everything was so confusing..._

Lumen watched as his younger self was dragged away, shocked and disbelieving. Then he looked down at himself. He could just see the white walls through his fingers. So this was how it was, fading slowly away as time corrected itself. So he still had time then. Time to repay his friends for costing them their lives... he vanished into the past once again.

_Tennis and Varia wandered through the dark streets of Metru Nui, although they couldn't quite remember how they'd got there, almost like a dream. But neither of them would notice that, because this was just a routine night patrol. Little did they realise how much danger they were in, as Lariska stalked the night and was waiting for Toa to cross her path. But she would be cheated of her prey tonight. "Listen!" Varia hissed to Tennis, peering into the shadows. They could both hear the sound of footsteps, likely some stalking dark hunter. Varia motioned for Tennis to follow her and she began to creep after the footsteps, tracking them through the night. They twisted in a path round the buildings, sometimes doubling back on itself and pausing. In fact, Varia was almost beginning to suspect that it was trying to lead them away, let them follow it, when she finally saw it. It had stepped into the light of the two moons, and Varia and Tennis took in the Toa-like shape, the huge bat-like wings, and the ancient helmet. They tried to back away but the creature suddenly turned and gazed at them with piercing icy eyes, that glowed with a ghostly inner light in the darkness. It watched them for a few moments more before unfurling its wings, leaping high into the night sky and vanishing from sight. Varia and Tennis stared at the space where it had stood for a while longer before Tennis finally spoke. "What in Metru Nui was that?" he whispered. Varia didn't look at him, but replied softly _

"_I think... it was the Toa of Night." _

"_Did you... feel like..." Tennis began, but he stopped. It was absurd, but when the thing had looked at him, he felt like it was... _

"_familiar?" Varia asked him. He nodded mutely. "Yes..." she continued, frowning as she tried to pin down an idea flashing into view... but then it was gone. _

Lumen flew away from them and vanished once again, safe in the knowledge that he'd kept them safe. But he wasn't done yet, even though he was even more transparent now. He had just a few more trips to make...

_Tennis was on the night patrol again, keeping a lookout for Dark Hunters. But he didn't see the one sneaking across the rooftops behind him, pulling back the string on a bow loaded with a poisoned arrow. Just like the Dark Hunter didn't notice the bat-like shadow swoop over him and drop a single Cordak rocket. The explosion shattered the night's peace and Tennis spun round in time to see the dismembered body of the Dark Hunter fall around him. The arrow dropped and stuck into the pavement at the foot of the building. Tennis looked up at the building once the fall of masonry had ceased, and thought he saw a bat-winged figure... he blinked and it was gone. Looking round at the various pieces of Dark Hunter, and then back to the arrow, he looked at the sky warily, and hurriedly made his way back to the coliseum to report back to Lhikan. _

Lumen was temporarily flummoxed. What on earth had happened to Varia? She'd disappeared at the end of the Dark Hunter Wars, and Lumen searched through time to find her, getting more frantic as he became steadily more transparent. But then, just as the era of the Toa Metru dawned, a few short days from his final stop, he found her in the city of legends once more. But he didn't speak to her. Instead, he found where she was staying and left her a note. He figured she'd find it of more use, and perhaps she'd even understand what had occurred.

_Varia returned home from another frustrating day with the Toa Metru, having decided that it would be safe to leave them to go the coliseum on their own to present the Great Disks. Then she noticed the tablet on the desk. Odd... Varia picked up the paper. The words were faint, as if written by a spectral hand, and she couldn't make them out. However, at the bottom the writing was a bit clearer, and she could read the last few words: 'If you ever need help, just look for Lumen'. Varia stared blankly at the letter, struggling with a sudden surge of familiarity, but then it was gone again. Even more frustrated, she tossed the paper aside and went to bed._

_And now... _Lumen thought as he examined his hand, which was now almost completely invisible. _My time is almost up. So now I can make one last trip..._

_Vakama's face was one of great anguish as his hero died in his arms. Lhikan gave him one last little smile and his heartlight went dark. Lhikan rose from his fallen body, a Toa once more, and turned to face Lumen. "Who are you?" he asked. Lumen gave him a sad little smile. "A fellow spirit, one that under different circumstances might have been one you knew. I thought perhaps you might want company on the walk to the afterlife."_

"_Company is much appreciated. Is the journey long?" Lhikan asked._

"_I've never taken it. But I here it's worth it." Lumen said. _

"_Then let us go, brother." Lhikan said. "Because I know that Vakama won't let me down." Lumen nodded, and together, they left this world._

"_It is strange brother, but I feel I do know you." Lhikan said. No answer. "Brother?" he repeated. Still nothing. He looked round. All he could see was white. And then, out of the mist, came his fallen brothers and sisters of the Toa Mangai. _

"_We're all here, brother." Naho said warmly. Even Nidhiki was there, although he stood apart from them. _

"_No... I was with another..." Lhikan said, although now he wasn't sure. Had there been someone there?_

"_You were all alone, Brother. We saw no-one." Another called; Lhikan couldn't tell which from here. He came closer. _

"_Oh..." Lhikan murmured. _

"_Come on brother, we're reunited once again! Be merry!" Nidhiki said. _

"_Yes." Lhikan nodded. "Back together again, at last." And as he ran to join his brothers and sisters, the last remnants of Lumen faded from existence, his debt finally repaid._


End file.
